General asks for U.S. warships in typhoon relief

U.S. military and typhoon aid – U.S. Marine Corps aircraft arrive at Villamor Airbase in Manila, Philippines, to deliver humanitarian aid to victims of Typhoon Haiyan on Monday, November 11.

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – The USS George Washington sails out of Hong Kong on Tuesday, November 12, to join the rescue and relief operations in the Philippines. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the aircraft carrier and several other U.S. Navy ships to head to the area as soon as possible.

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – Typhoon survivors in Tacloban, Philippines, board a U.S. plane bound for the capital of Manila on November 11.

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – U.S. sailors of the USS Antietam stand on deck at Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor before sailing to the Philippines on November 12.

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – The USS Lassen, seen here in July, began heading to the region on November 11.

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – U.S. Navy personnel hook up supplies to a MH-60S Seahawk helicopter in this file photo from September 2005. Seahawk helicopters, which were used to provide relief to Hurricane Katrina victims, will now be brought to the Philippines to help.

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – The USNS Charles Drew, a Navy supply ship, is among those heading to the Philippines.

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – Also being sent to the typhoon-ravaged region is the USS Cowpens, a cruiser seen here in 2004.

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – The USS Mustin is bound for the Philippines as well. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy said the amphibious ships are the "Swiss army knife of the U.S. military."

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U.S. military and typhoon aid – An MH-60R Seahawk flies near in the Pacific Ocean in February.

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Story highlights

Two U.S. Navy amphibious ships will pick up Marines in Okinawa and sail to Philippines

The U.S. commander in the Philippines is asking for amphibious warships

The vessels can carry helicopters, vehicles that can surmount debris piles

The U.S. military will bring supplies, but they will be handed out by local leaders

The hundreds of thousands of typhoon victims in the Philippines need help, and they need it now, the U.S. Marine Corps general in charge of the U.S. military relief effort says.

Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy told CNN he needs immediate dispatch of U.S. Navy amphibious ships that carry equipment to produce potable water and the variety of helicopters, small boats, trucks and other supplies needed in the relief effort.

"They are the Swiss army knife of the U.S. military," Kennedy said of the amphibious ships, speaking to CNN in a telephone interview from the Philippines.

The Pentagon appeared to be heeding his call. Two U.S. Navy amphibious ships are now sailing from their home base in Sasebo, Japan, to Okinawa, where they will pick up Marines and continue on to the Philippines, a U.S. military official said Tuesday evening.

Three warships that are home-ported in the Pacific are also under orders to prepare to deploy in the next 48 hours, a senior Pentagon official told CNN.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said the military is working hard to give Kennedy whatever he needs. He said 250 U.S. service members are now in the Philippines, and they have delivered 107,000 pounds of relief supplies.

Kennedy said the most crucial need right now is to provide shelter for the tens of thousands of displaced people, as well as food, water and sanitation. The situation is so dire there may not even be enough time or capability to fly in portable toilets, and human waste might have to be burned in place, he said.

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U.S. Marines arrive in Philippines

Photos: Typhoon Haiyan – A man reconstructs his house in the bay of Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines, on Wednesday, November 27, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, hit the country's eastern seaboard on November 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction, including more than 5,000 deaths.

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Photos: Typhoon Haiyan – A man rests on his damaged house along the shore in Tacloban on Monday, November 25.

Typhoon Haiyan – Local people begin to help clear debris near the shoreline where several tankers ran aground on November 23 in Leyte. The death toll from the storm stands at more than 5,000, according to a government-run news agency.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man clears debris from in front of his home near the shoreline on November 23 in Leyte.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Groups of men clear debris near the shoreline on November 23 in Tacloban.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan inspect the damage to their houses in Tacloban, Philippines, on Friday, November 22.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Filpinos clear rubble from a hard-hit area in Tacloban on November 22.

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Typhoon Haiyan – An airplane lands in Tacloban as Antonio Lacasa rebuilds his house on Thursday, November 21.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People carry a coffin through an opening in the wall of a public cemetery for burial in Tacloban on November 21.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A member of the Philippine air force drops relief goods for survivors in Tolosa on November 21.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Children blow bubbles in a destroyed market in Tacloban on Wednesday, November 20.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Workers clear mud and debris in Tacloban on November 20.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A boy climbs across debris in Tacloban on November 20.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People at the airport in Tacloban react to a blast of wind from an aircraft on November 20.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man walks through water in the typhoon-ravaged city of Tacloban, Philippines, on November 20.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man sleeps on Tuesday, November 19, on a tanker that ran aground during Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Firemen unload bodies November 19 for forensic experts to register and bury in a mass grave outside of Tacloban.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Firemen unload more victims outside of Tacloban on November 19.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man fans the flames of a fire in Tanauan, Philippines, on November 19.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors salvage wood next to stranded ships in Tacloban on November 19.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Philippine military personnel carry an injured survivor to an evacuation flight at the Tacloban airport November 19.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People in Tacloban march in the rain November 19 during a procession calling for courage and resilience among survivors.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People play cards by candlelight Monday, November 18, in Tacloban.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A U.S. Navy helicopter delivers relief goods to typhoon victims in Ormoc, Philippines, on November 18.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Men take food back to their families in Leyte on November 18. Countries all over the world have pledged relief aid to those affected by the typhoon, but damage to airports and roads have made moving the aid very difficult.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People are held back as the U.S. Navy delivers aid from a helicopter in San Jose, Philippines, on November 18.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A helicopter flies over a call for help in Ormoc on November 18.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man cleans up mud inside a church in the hard-hit city of Tacloban on November 18.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A boy bathes November 18 at a Tacloban school turned into a temporary shelter.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Hundreds of typhoon survivors are packed into a U.S. military airplane November 18 for evacuation from Tacloban's airport.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Typhoon survivors run toward a passing U.S. Navy helicopter in San Jose on November 18.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A boy holding a toy machine gun sits Sunday, November 17, on a ship that ran aground in Tacloban.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People gather around a helicopter as it delivers relief supplies November 17 in Guiuan, Philippines.

Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors clean mannequins found among the debris in Tacloban on November 17.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man leans against a statue of the Crucifixion before a Mass at Santo Nino Church in Tacloban on November 17.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man carries a piece of wood from the debris in Tacloban on November 17.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors wait in line in Tacloban for relief goods on November 17.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man looks over the devastation from his damaged home in Tacloban on November 17.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A trapped resident braves the dust created by a U.S. Navy helicopter taking off Saturday, November 16, on Manicani Island, Philippines.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Corpses are collected and loaded on trucks to be taken to mass graves in Tacloban on November 16.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A victim's corpse floats on a river in Tanauan on November 16.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A pregnant survivor waits to give birth in a hospital November 16 in Tanauan.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A dead dog lies in front of a house destroyed by the typhoon in Tanauan.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man carries a bicycle as he walks through the ruins of a Tacloban building November 16.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors of the typhoon stand in a Tanauan street partially blocked by debris November 16.

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Typhoon Haiyan – An elderly survivor walks past toppled cars outside a church in Tacloban on November 16.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man in Tanauan cleans meat after slaughtering his only cow that survived the typhoon.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors gather in Tacloban to await transport to a neighboring province on November 16.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Men carry a coffin toward a Leyte cemetery on November 16.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A survivor cooks dinner in front of his damaged home in Marabut, Philippines, on Friday, November 15.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Toppled coconut trees dot a mountain in an area devastated by the typhoon in Leyte province.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A typhoon survivor keeps her husband alive by manually pumping air into his lungs after his leg was amputated at a Tacloban hospital November 15. The hospital has been operating without power since the typhoon.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A survivor reacts to the damage at a residential area in Tacloban on November 15.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Typhoon victims are treated in the lobby of a Tacloban hospital on November 15.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Philippine Army soldiers carry the body of a civilian in Tanauan on November 15.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Residents wait to board a Singaporean cargo plane at the Tacloban airport on November 15. Many survivors have converged on the city's airport to wait for flights.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Search and retrieval teams carry a body bag in Tacloban on November 15.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Haiyan survivors carry food that a U.S. military helicopter dropped off in Guiuan on Thursday, November 14.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Dozens of bodies are placed near Tacloban City Hall on November 14 as workers prepare a mass grave on the outskirts of the hard-hit city.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A girl plays inside her house amid the devastation in Tacloban on November 14.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A Filipino soldier hands out bread to survivors in Maraboth, Philippines, on November 14.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A boy takes cover from rain while waiting for an evacuation flight from Tacloban's airport November 14.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Workers arrange bodies at a mass burial site at a Tacloban cemetery November 14.

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Typhoon Haiyan – The weary wait for evacuation from Tacloban on November 14.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A truck lies in the water in Hernani, Philippines, on November 14.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Children play with fallen power lines near a damaged school in Guiuan on November 14.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Teresa Mazeda hangs laundry in the ruins of her Tacloban home on Wednesday, November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Nina Duran searches for belongings at her family's destroyed house in Tacloban on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors walk through the ruins of their neighborhood outside Tacloban on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man sits in front of his destroyed business November 13 in Tacloban.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A family, desperate to charge their mobile phones to search for family and friends, tries to use a ceiling fan to generate electricity November 13 in the Philippine province of Cebu.

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Typhoon Haiyan – An injured man in Tacloban rests beneath a picture of Jesus Christ on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man takes a shower amid the rubble in Tacloban on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A rescue team wades into Tacloban floodwater to retrieve a body on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Residents take shelter in a Tacloban church on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Residents make their way through a destroyed neighborhood in Tacloban on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A boy cycles past a coffin left on a street in Tacloban on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man looks at his destroyed home November 13 in Tacloban.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Body bags are lined up in Tacloban on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors prepare to board a military plane November 13 at the Tacloban airport.

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Photos: Typhoon Haiyan – Men walk through smoke as they burn debris from a Tacloban church on November 16.

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Typhoon Haiyan – An aerial view of Tanuan shows signs pleading for help and food November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Soldiers help a woman after she collapsed November 13 while waiting in line to board a military plane at Tacloban's airport.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors wait to be evacuated from Tacloban on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – An injured survivor gets carried on a stretcher before being airlifted from Tacloban's airport November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A survivor begins to rebuild his house in Tacloban on November 13.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Evacuees wait to board a military aircraft in Leyte on Tuesday, November 12.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People walk through damage in Tacloban on November 12.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A young man waits at the airport November 12 in hopes of being evacuated from Tacloban.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A woman comforts a crying relative as a plane leaves the Tacloban airport November 12.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A man sits crying on a packed aircraft in Tacloban on November 12.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Debris lays scattered around a damaged home near the Tacloban airport on November 12.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A girl sits inside a bus as she waits for a ferry in Matnog, Philippines, on November 12.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Police line up bodies for processing in Tacloban on November 12.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People in Tacloban pass debris on November 11.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Survivors in Tacloban board a military plane bound for the Philippine capital of Manila on November 11.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Residents carry bags of rice from a Tacloban warehouse that they stormed November 11 because of a food shortage.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A woman in Tacloban walks amid the debris of destroyed houses on November 11.

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Typhoon Haiyan – People make their way across a flooded street in Shangsi, China, on November 11. Haiyan moved toward Vietnam and south China after devastating the Philippines.

Typhoon Haiyan – A woman carries a baby across a river November 8 at a coastal village in Las Pinas, Philippines.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A resident walks along a fishing village in Bacoor, Philippines, on November 8.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A house in Legazpi, Philippines, is engulfed by storm surge November 8.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A child wraps himself in a blanket inside a makeshift house along a Bacoor fishing village.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A woman and her children head for an evacuation center November 8 amid strong winds in Cebu City, Philippines.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Huge waves from Haiyan hit the shoreline in Legazpi on November 8.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A fisherman lifts a post to reinforce his home at a coastal village in Las Pinas on November 8.

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Typhoon Haiyan – A resident unloads nets off a fishing boat in Bacoor on November 8.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Residents reinforce their homes in Las Pinas on November 8.

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Typhoon Haiyan – The storm approaches the Philippines in this satellite image taken Thursday, November 7, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Workers bring down a billboard in Makati, Philippines, on November 7 before Haiyan makes landfall.

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Typhoon Haiyan – Philippine Coast Guard personnel stand in formation beside newly acquired rubber boats after a blessing ceremony in Manila on Wednesday, November 6. The boats were to be deployed to the central Philippines in preparation for Haiyan.

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EXPAND GALLERY

While U.S. Marines are on the ground providing aid and more U.S. military help has been dispatched, Kennedy said more help is urgently needed.

"The rest of the world needs to get mobilized, the rest of the donor community," he told NBC News. "A week from now will be too late. "

"We can't wait," said Martin Romualdez, a Philippines congressman. "People have gone three days without any clean water, food and medication," he told CNN's "Piers Morgan Live." "People are getting desperate."

Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines on Friday as one of the most powerful storms recorded.

By Tuesday, officials had counted 1,774 deaths from the storm. Authorities had said Haiyan may have taken as many as 10,000 lives, but Philippines President Benigno Aquino III told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday that the death toll would more likely be about 2,000 or 2,500 people.

With wind gusts well above 200 mph and a massive storm surge, the storm displaced at least 800,000 people, the United Nations said Tuesday.

More than 2 million people need food aid, the Philippine government said.

Compounding relief efforts Tuesday was a new tropical low, Zoraida, which has dumped 4 inches of rain in some of the hard-hit areas. That makes the amphibious ships Kennedy has asked for even more vital.

The amphibious ships have tracked "assault amphibious vehicles" that can carry supplies and move over and through piles of debris to distribution points where aid is needed most.

The Pentagon has dispatched the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which was visiting Hong Kong, to the disaster area. Two cruisers, three destroyers and a supply ship are joining the carrier for the mission, Little said.

"The George Washington can produce more than 400,000 gallons of fresh water per day. As you know, and as a reminder, a U.S. Navy carrier, the USS Lincoln, supported tsunami relief operations in 2004 in the Pacific, providing much needed capabilities to operations ashore," Little said.

The U.S. military relief effort will take supplies to distribution points, but those supplies will be then handed out by Philippines forces, Kennedy said. Local forces are in the best position to know community leaders and make sure those in the most need are getting the help, he added.

As of Tuesday night in the Philippines, lights and radars were being assembled at the airport in Tacloban, at the heart of the disaster zone, and the facility was expected to be running full day and nighttime operations within 24 hours, he said.